


Varangian, Warrior, Wife, Mother

by Keenir



Category: Thor (Movies)
Genre: ...blending the canon of edda and marvel film anyway, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, FROZEN headcanon regarding definition of "witch", Family, Gen, Jötunheimr | Jotunheim, Jötunn Loki, Kid Fic, Loki & Sif's kids, The Hobbit References, flyting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-19
Updated: 2013-12-19
Packaged: 2018-01-05 03:31:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,171
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1089093
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Keenir/pseuds/Keenir
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sif and Loki take the kids and a friend on a vacation.  Amora interupts.</p><p><i>Varangians</i> on Earth were Vikings in the service of the Byzantine Emperor.  Elsewhere in the Nine Realms, <i>varangian</i> simply means an immigrant.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Varangian, Warrior, Wife, Mother

**Author's Note:**

  * For [nayanroo](https://archiveofourown.org/users/nayanroo/gifts).



> Warning: everything I know about Amora, in terms of her powers and attitude, I got from reading fanfiction.
> 
>  **Prompts:** * adventure  
>  * happy ending  
> * Sif and Loki have kids and are a family. The family may or may not be more than a little dysfunctional, but still a family with very strong bonds. More bonus points for a post-canon/AU story where Loki is still on the darker side of morally gray but adores his babies and he and Sif are heading toward being in love after kind of dancing around it, or are in love.

**_There have always been beings of great power. And there is always something more mighty than even the greatest King of Realms. Even when Jotnar ruled Niflheim and Jotunheim, their High King knew fear. As does Odin the Allfather._ **

_**In the wake of the terrible war – the**_ Yggwar _ **– between Asgard and Vanaheim, Vanaheim did swear to not again extend his borders; meanwhile, Asgard swore to place all Vanir under her protection.** _

**_This was most tested when Vanir settlements appeared upon Midgard. Jotunheim, acting in accordance with an agreement forged with long-dead King Buri of Asgard, Jotunheim moved to remove those Vanir settlements with all the force they deemed needed._**

**_I, Odin, new to the throne at the start of the Asgard-Vanir War, knew I need make a choice which would resonate down the halls of all ensuing history: to side with the Vanir in order to protect them as I had sworn…or to side with the Jotuns in order to stop the illegal colonization the Vanir had sworn to never again do._ **

_**I will not say I did not consider the role of protector. But also I knew that the lives upon Midgard required protection as well. And so I threw the lot of Asgard in alongside that of Jotunheim. And we were victorious.** _

* * *

“Again, I cannot thank you nor Loki sufficiently,” Thor told her. “Though, speaking of your noble husband, where is he?”

“Elsewhere on business, or so I am assured,” Sif said, with one of her ‘oh please’ gestures of the eyes and eyebrows.

Thor smiled, well remembering when she had given those responses to things he himself had uttered. 

“And speaking of loves, how fares yours, now that the AEther is gone?”

“Jane is well, and would offer her thanks that you have asked after her. She and I are deeply appreciative for all you did on Svartalfheim.”

“Were I to have done less, I would have been… ‘slacking’ in Midgardrspeech.”

“And never have you sought to do less than all you could, Sif; well I know,” Thor said. And then he knew he had put off the unpleasant news for long enough and could delay it’s arrival no further: “There were signs, in the Dark Elf ship, of Amora’s presence,” Thor said. “No body nor death-magic, however.”

“So she yet lives,” Sif said. “Reality should be as tidy as those eddas of Midgard, with one evil destroying the other, in time for the destroyer to be destroyed.”

“Were that the truth, the Realms would not require heroes such as us. And then where would we be?”

“Where I head now regardless: home to herd my children on an adventure of our own.”

“Oh?” Thor asked, curious.

“To the Fimbulbent and its fog-shrouded mountain,” Sif said. The Fimbulbent, a great stretch of flat grassy land where snow and ice never lingered more than a day, warmed from underneath by the long tail of the dragonlord who slept under the mountain.

* * *

Now that she had returned home, and as she untied the binds holding her overcloak closed, Sif thought on the Court’s visitor today – a regional landholder had come forth to pay blooddebt for slaying Byleister – _Loki’s brother,_ Sif recalled, _the one who tried to claim the lands around the Citadel Of Memgloth._

‘Who is this lovely etinness?’ the landholder had asked Sif as much as he had asked of Sif. _And I introduced myself; less onus to say I am Sif Jarnsaxadottar, even with the implicit ties to Asgard and her Gatekeeper, than to say I am Sif Tyrsdottar, with that link to Vanaheim. Better for the same reason to keep a stony grain to my skin, even if so little of it ever touches the open air._ She had left Court earlier than Loki, to ensure the children were ready and out the door – knowing Loki would have gotten talked into delaying by getting into one game or another.

 _Jotunheim was different from the other Realms,_ Sif knew, and felt it was the reason why she had felt comfortable entering into a relationship with Loki son of Laufey and Farbouti. In Asgard, all children of the monarch were royalty all their lives. Alfheim was the same, though their potentates tended to slay one another to attain the throne. Jotunheim had monarchs, but their children were not considered royalty until the Althinga enthroned them. _Speaking of…_ Sif thought as her ears caught the sound of feet slapping against the floor at speed.

“Mom! Narvi’s being a wolf again!” Undve declared as she ran into the room and flung herself against Sif’s legs, hands clasping and with no sign of letting go or loosening anytime soon.

“Narvi,” Sif said, “stop being a wild man and let your sister play with you and Kel.”

“We were,” Narvi said, standing at the doorway, his hair still looking like it was one tantrum away from going up in flames. “She said she wanted to play Catcher, and asked me to be the quarry.”

Sif sighed. “How hard did she have to try to convince you?”

Narvi made a face and looked at his feet.

Looking down at the daughter still around her legs, Sif said “Undve? What do you say?”

“I’m not sorry,” Undve replied, looking up at her mother with her huge humus-colored eyes.

“Do you want me to give you a talking-to, or your father?” Sif asked her.

Not missing a beat, “Can we watch when you give father a talking-to?”

“Not before this trip, you can’t; or will your sister and brother forgive you for making us all stay home?”

Undve tried to swallow her nervousness and failed miserably.

_Simply because I am not as masterful as a Jotnar at making riddles, does not mean I am helpless. Far too many adult Jotnar make the same mistake as Undve._

Joining Narvi as the doorway, Kel said, “I ensured they packed while we awaited your return, mother. Everyone has spares of everything we need.”

“Ever am I proud of you,” Sif said, coming over and lifting Kel’s braid. 

“I am certain, mother,” Kel said before Sif could say a word. “I like my braid.”

“Can we go now?” Narvi asked. “I want to get to the Fimbulbents before the Wyrm awakens.”

“Why would the Wyrm awaken while mother speaks to us, if the Wyrm has not awoken for millions of years before mother’s birth?”

“Because our mom’s special,” Undve countered.

“Our mom is capable,” Narvi corrected.

“Our mother is more than capable,” Kel said.

“Your mother is wondering why none of you are heading out the door with your things,” Sif said. “If any of you don’t wish to go, stop sidestepping, and tell me.” _Or tell your father. Though, as we’re meeting him soon, that would be tricky this at this late stage._ “All business has been conducted and flushed?”

A trio of confirmations answered her.

“Good, now move,” Sif told them. _There are days that herding our children is little different from training young Jotnar soldiers._

* * *

Loki looked across the room at Gymir, who met the younger Jotnar’s gaze with practiced ease. “I am a quailing thing, ever-fleeing. I shelter from the sun, but cannot live in the night.”

“You are a shadow,” Gymir said. “I could shelter an army from attack, but I know only feet. Lacking hands, I carry everything.”

 _The bit about the shields made it easier than it might have been._ “You are a ship,” as a kenning for battle is ‘shower-of-arrows.’ “I tear bears and men and wolves, and have no scales. I taste delicious, but am ridden more than eaten.”

“A boar. What ere -”

“What do I have in my pocket?” Sif asked from the room’s entrance, mouthing a silent and friendly greeting to Angrboda, standing to another side, keeping an eye on the flyting participants Loki and Gymir.

“I remember a time when it was the hands of your children,” Gymir answered. “Good day to you, Sif Varangian.”

“Good day to you as well,” Sif said, well remembering how the children would keep a hand in her pockets, that way neither they could not wander off. “Has Loki forgotten to mention he was joining us on a trip to the Mountain and Hlothran Ruins?”

“I believe so. Long has it been since I was in that vicinity, but well enjoyed Fimbulbent.”

“We’re going to see the Wyrm,” Narvi said.

“And the Wyrm’s name is what?” Gymir asked him, though he knew.

“Jormungand!” Undve blurted out. “And have I grown?”

“More than my own daughter did at your age, child.” Then, “Kel Inglopt, you I remember,” Gymir said. “As responsible as ever, I do hope.”

“I do my best, citadellord,” Kel said. Kel Inglopt Lokadottar, so named for the way her newborn skin reminded all present of how the River Ing had looked when it had been set alight. And though she was Narvi’s twin, it was she who was invested with authority to govern the house when both her parents were out.

“Better than the rest of us do,” Narvi finished for her.

“You’ve grown,” Gymir told him.

Narvi nodded. “Mom thinks I’m going to look like a soldier before I even sign up.” _Though if I’m already that big by that point, what would the growth spurt do? Make me as big as Heimdall? Yes!_

“You would be invaluable to the force if you were to join; you would be invaluable to whatever you set your mind to.”

“You sound like my dad,” Narvi said.

“That is less offense than you think, young one,” Gymir said, and said his goodbyes, and left.

Seeing how his lovely wife was looking at him, Loki said to the children that “Angrboda will show you to the sled. Your mother and I need a word.”

Narvi and Undve groaned but complied; Kel went silently.

Once they were out of the room, Sif punched Loki.

He looked at her questioningly. “While undoubtedly earned, which of my deeds deserved that?” Loki asked.

“One of these days, someone will lose these flytings you and Gymir have, and then we’ll be stuck in a feud – and I’d no more hand over one of our children to a marriage-for-peace than Gymir would hand over his own daughter.

“Nor would I do so,” Loki said. “That’s why he and I never ask anything of great difficulty.”

Sif punched him again.

“For causing you concern?” he suspected.

Her eyes were answer aplenty. “We should go.”

“I’m certain we have time aplenty,” Loki said, wrapping himself around her well-insulated body, certain he could feel the sexy warmth of Sif through all the furs. “After all, Angrboda enjoys helping the children.”

 _“Our_ children,” Sif stated.

Loki sighed. _This again?_

“Or are you saying you no longer enjoy playing with the three of them and I, as we bind our things to the sled?”

He just looked at her. _You did it again – stolen the words from me, rendered them immaterial and irrelevant._

* * *

_**The Past:** _

“I do not understand you,” Sif said.

“Said the etinness to the witch,” Angrboda chuckled briefly. In Jotunspeech and those languages influenced by her, _‘witch’_ simply meant _‘one whose ability surpasses others’_ and carried no stigma or onus. “What do you not understand?” she asked Sif, wanting to help.

“You and Loki.”

“There exists nothing between us, Sif. His thoughts and heart and breath are only for you, as is any warmth which may pulse through him.”

“Then… You aren’t exactly this nice to anyone else who stands between you and the throne, or anything else you like.” _Which perhaps should be a sign that she isn’t after Loki – she would have tried to kill me by now._

“Loki and I have an arrangement most simple – if I attain the throne, he swears loyalty to me, and ever have I always defended those under my authority,” _for they are my dependents._ “If he attains the throne, either he will surrender it to me, and all else is the same; or I swear loyalty to him. Cooperation is evolutionarily advantageous.” _Cooperating with every last person, though, is overkill._

* * *

**_NOW:_ **

“You – Shall – Not – Pass!” Narvi shouted at Undve, blocking her path over the stream the adults were approaching.

Kel just looked at her parents with that long-suffering look of hers.

“Play, Kel, go on,” Loki urged her.

“I would get dirty, father,” Kel answered him.

“And if you were already dirty?”

Her eyes widened, flickering-ember eyes staring in shock.

“Go on and scout ahead,” Sif told Kel, who did so immediately.

“So little fun,” Loki said, pretending to be upset.

Sif and Angrboda both rolled their eyes.

“When you fight the Dark Elves again, can I help?” Narvi asked.

“No!, I called dibs!” Undve said.

 _When I find the Midgarder who taught them of ‘dibs’…_ Loki thought. “You can both assist your mother and I.” _In whatever potentially Realms-ending battle we next face._

“And this is what I’ll do,” Narvi pronounced, returning to play-fighting with Undve. Missing her by a foot easily and ducking her strike in kind, Narvi stuck out his tongue, Midgardr-style.

Loki groaned. Bann Narvi Sifsson, named to honor a childhood friend of Sif’s.

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!” came a girl’s scream from up ahead.

The family and Angrboda broke into a run to take down whomever had caused the cry from Kel.

“You screamed?” Narvi asked.

“That wasn’t me,” Kel said.

“No. It was me,” admitted the wolf-clothed brigand, thinking it would promote the deception, as she herself was never known to confess to such indignity. “I am Lirtari, and you shall all knuckle under.”

 _No, you are not, nor shall we,_ Sif knew.

“Idiot,” Angrboda muttered, in a way entirely different from Sif’s muttering of the same word at Loki. And she aimed her wrists at Lirtari, firing shards and bolts of ice from herself. _Here this makes me a witch, while tis the norm in Niflheim._

“You are Amora, and fooling none here,” Loki said as he made copies of himself ring around not-Lirtari Amora from where he stood facing the wolf-wearer. “And you’ve got quite little magic left to you.”

“Rebuilding after the Dark Elves nearly ended you?” Sif asked, and got naught but a scowl in reply. Sif hurled her glaive – and Amora caught it, drawing blood in the catching hand.

Narvi let loose with stones from his sling, wishing he hadn’t packed away his bow and arrows. Narvi’s stones hit their target because Amora had been focusing upon the glaive. Sif gave a wicked grin.

Undve’s skin coarsened, and she crouched, then charged, flipping when she was just short of her target – slamming the large pebbles of her shoulders and back into Amora.

Amora magically flung Undve away from her, over the heads of Sif and Angrboda. Drawing in what little power she had left to her for now, _I shall strike you all down, then use you later as my thralls._

That was her plan.

Kel’s eyes narrowed at the sight of what had been done to her sister, and then Kel used her power: the air around her and Amora shone as all the gases and airborne particulates stopped moving and fell to earth.

Amora fell to her knees, clutching her throat in desperation for something to breathe. Magic sparked at her fingers, and was about to sent a bolt of either Servitude or Eternal Paralysis into Kel –

When Amora found herself being magically lifted from the ground and overhead. 

“Do one more thing, and I need not bother returning you alive to Asgard,” Loki warned her. “By treaty, I am within my rights to use the you-given opportunity to instruct my children in how to end you.”

“Or I could gut you,” Sif offered. “They need learn that as well.”

Loki nodded.

“I surrender,” Amora said. “What will you do with me now, Jotun?”

“It isn’t me or her you need worry about,” Loki said with an easy smile.

Amora looked at Sif then.

Loki flicked his hand, and Amora vanished. “The guard-filled hall of Asgard, however, you may wish to be careful in,” he remarked to nobody here.

Undve giggled as she walked up to him, and gave him a hug.

 _Very well, not everything out of Midgard is annoying,_ Loki reflected as he smiled down at her.

Tiris Und-ve Lokadottar had been named thus after the Allfather’s sister; a gesture of diplomatic respect not uncommon between allies.

The rest of the journey was singularly uneventful, and passed quickly enough.

As they stood atop the rise overlooking the Fimbulbent with its greens and reds, Loki put his arms around his family, and held them. The Mountain was within reach, but it was secondary at best; what was truly important was here.

“I love you, parents,” Undve said.

Not about to be out-cuted by his little sister, Narvi said, “You’re the best, both of you, mom and dad.”

Kel said, “I know I wouldn’t have survived these two without you two.”

 _At times, the feeling has been mutual,_ Sif thought. _And at the same time,_ “You’ve all been worth it. And your father.”

Loki kissed her. “My sentiments exactly.”

“Sentiment, Laufeysson?” Angrboda asked, not far off.

“These are the exception which prove the rule. They are a fine reason for sentiment.”

She could offer no counter or argument.

* * *

_**THE PAST:** _

_Sif looked down at her naked belly and didn’t dare touch it, much less run fingers over it. Is that a swell, or am I making too much of it?_

“You may,” Sif said.

Loki paused, and knew it wouldn’t matter if his confusion showed on his face – she knew he could fake such thing.

“I won’t stop you from having a dalliance. I’d prefer you keep it to Angrboda, but that is only my wish.”

“What?”

“I spoke clearly,” Sif said.

“Yes you did,” Loki agreed. “Except I have no interest in dallying with anyone, and never have.”

“Lie.”

“Very well, once, twice, before I courted you. When I was visiting Asgard, I paid court to Sigyn; you know this, I have spoken of it to you.”

“You have.”

“Why do you believe I would tryst with Angrboda? I know a one I would far prefer to dally with – is this what you and she discuss when there are no ears about?”

“It isn’t,” Sif says. “And I said Angrboda because I trust her, and I was under the impression that you trusted her more than any other Jotnar.”

“Jotnar, yes.”

 _That’s not a denial._ “You like her,” Sif observed. “She draws your eye.”

“Angrboda is -” Loki said. _Fandral’s crush._

“Don’t say older, Loki. That’s not a reason, nor would it be even if there was a signifigant distance of years between the two of you.”

“She was,” Loki agreed. “Though age was not my objection.”

“And what was?”

“Angrboda is not you,” Loki said, holding Sif’s hands between his “You and you alone, tis you I care for and cherish, o warmer of my heart, heater of my breath.”


End file.
